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Stuttering problem in Win7 upgrade notebook 1

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Rlah

Technical User
May 31, 2001
50
My 2 year old notebook is stuttering for about 5 seconds about every minute or so... mouse movements, video and/or audio playback stutter severely, etc.
I have watched what processes (in Task Manager and Process Explorer) are taking up CPU resources during these periods and nothing is showing up as obvious culprits. I've shut down a few unneeded program/processes running but so far nothing has helped.

I upgraded from Vista to Win7 in November. In early January, I upgraded from 2GB to 4GB RAM.

I suppose this could be a sticky problem... but has anyone else seen this problem? Any ideas how to track it down?
 
Test from Safe Mode, and test from Normal Mode but with another user.

See if you can isolate the cause via these.

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7

See if you have repeating errors in the Event Viewer.

Is your Video Card driver fully updated?

Have you tested your RAM for problems with the built-in memory tester?

Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool
 
linney:
I'm a little embarrassed...
The quickest check I could do of your suggestions was the memory test. But not long after the diagnostic began, the computer shut off. So I figured the new 4GB Corsair memory must be bad. I put the factory 2GB sticks back in and tested playing some videos... no stuttering. But I decided to go further and test the factory memory with the Windows diagnostic. It went up to about 30% complete and then the computer shut down... hmmm. So I put the new 4GB sticks back in and tested some videos... no stuttering.

For now, I'm chalking this up to just needing a reboot. But all this leaves me with questions:
1) Is Win7 having problems with memory in general?
2) Will my computer develop a pattern of stuttering on a sporadic basis?

Only time will tell. Thx for your help!
rlah
 
BadBigBen:
Thx for the followup. That sounds like a very good idea... it's had over 2 years of run-time and surely needs it.
After I do the clean-out, I'm going to have to also re-test Win7's problems with Hibernate and/or Sleep modes (I have a Toshiba P205 notebook). I used to use one of these power save modes with the old Vista overnight, but when I tried it after the upgrade, it crashed. I haven't attempted it since then... but now's the time to get back into this.

I'll report back about the results of the fan/intake cleanout on memory diagnostics. But I'll start a new thread if the Hibernate/Sleep problem is still there -- in some Hardware forum here.

rlah
 
Also make sure that the contacts for the memory look clean and undamaged. Have you tried using a different channel?


Regards: Terry
 
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